In aircraft cabins of modern airliners there is a plurality of inscriptions, notices and markings. These are mostly printed signs or stickers, which are mounted or stuck up inside the aircraft cabin. A notice with the English writing “Life vest under the seat” is thus normally mounted on the passenger seats. Furthermore, a sign in English, “Be careful when opening the overhead compartment”, is usually mounted on the luggage compartment above the passenger seats. A “Vacant” sign in English that is visible when the toilet is free is also replaced by an “Occupied” sign in English by locking of the toilet door. Furthermore, a host of inscriptions are located in the galley, such as notices referring to the fixing of galley elements during the take-off and landing of the aircraft.
Moreover, storage spaces are usually provided in the galley of an airliner in which portable transport containers, so-called “trolleys”, can be parked. The trolleys have holding devices that can be inserted and withdrawn and are loaded with service products required for supplying the passengers on board the aircraft, such as e.g. food or beverages. Furthermore, there are often trolleys on airliners with holding devices loaded with products for duty-free purchase. Attached to the trolleys are machine-readable identification means, so-called “bar codes”, which identify the trolleys and the foods or products located in the trolleys.
It is disadvantageous in the case of the known signs, inscriptions and bar codes, however, that the information displayed cannot be changed. To change the information displayed, the sign or the bar code has to be replaced by a new sign or a new bar code. Such a change can be necessary if the information displayed in the respective language is not understood by the cabin crew and/or the passengers on the basis of their linguistic knowledge. Since airlines have to utilise their airliners to the best possible capacity on account of increased cost pressure, it can happen that an airliner fitted out with signs in German is used for a certain period in regular service in South America, so that all signs in the aircraft cabin have to be replaced for the set period by Spanish signs. This exchange is associated with a relatively high time and financial outlay, however. The bar code can change even on trolleys, so that the sticker with the printed bar code has to be painstakingly removed from the trolley and replaced by a new sticker.
The publication DE 10 2005 049 688 A1 discloses an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system for monitoring the transport and storage conditions of goods accommodated in a trolley. The trolley is fitted with an RFID transponder, which enables airline companies to determine the current location of the trolley by means of suitably positioned transmit-receive units. If the trolley is in a storage space in the galley of an aircraft, then information data of the RFID transponder read out by a reader is displayed via a display unit installed separately in the galley.